The Cathedral School Connection Newsletter | April 2018 | Number 61

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The Cathedral School of St Anne & St James APRIL 2018 | NUMBER 61

Principal, Mr Ian Gamack, Queen’s Baton Relay Young Ambassador, Year 7 student, Matilda Davies and Batonbearer, Daniel Buckland

The Cathedral School of St Anne & St James, Townsville

Principal’s Report

The 2018 school year has seen a highly energised and positive start for our 100 year old school. There was no sign of a post-Centenary lull and our students and staff have had a wonderful first term, complete with our Wonder Hub opening, our interhouse swimming carnivals and our interhouse musicals. We have welcomed a number of new staff and students to the school this year and they have settled in particularly well. Our Centenary graduating cohort received outstanding results and are now busily pursuing the next phase of their lives. It has been great to see so many of them dropping into the school and we certainly hope to see them at past student functions in the future.

OUR 101ST REUNION CELEBRATIONS While it is still only April, it is time for all Old Girls and Past Students to begin planning for their return to The Cathedral School in July. After the success and enjoyment of the functions we ran in 2017, we are looking at continuing and expanding on the Friday night Cocktail event (this year on Friday 20 July 2018) to include not only Old Girls and Past Students, but also those current and former parents who wish to be involved. The Class of 2013 Five Year Reunion will still occur on this night also, but I encourage other year levels to keep an eye out for further information regarding this event. It will be an informal night of entertainment and light refreshment, all happening on our magnificent lagoon precinct. The Saturday afternoon tours and afternoon tea, Reunion Dinner and Sunday St James’ Church service will also be happening as usual on this Reunion Weekend and we look forward to seeing you at these events.

THE RAINTREE LIGHTS One of the visible highlights of our Centenary was of course the Raintree Lights by the Lagoon, and we have received welcome news from our “Tree Doctor” that the lights can remain in the tree without damaging it in any way. In an effort to save on our electricity costs we do not have the lights on every night as we did last year, but we do turn them on for special occasions.

The past and present school community will be interested to know that Mrs Toni Lanphier and myself had the chance to thank the generous donors of the Raintree Lights when we were in Hong Kong this year. We had dinner with Rachel and Thomas Wong, who are parents of 2016 graduate, Derrick Tam, and presented them with a framed photo of the Raintree Lights and The Connection Place on behalf of the School. They were delighted to know of the gratitude and appreciation of all of those people who have enjoyed these spectacular lights since Derrick turned them on after Presentation Night 2016.

MR IAN GAMACK Principal

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MR IAN GAMACK WITH RACHEL AND THOMAS WONG (PARENTS OF DERRICK TAM, CLASS OF 2016) IN HONG KONG RECENTLY

The Cathedral School of St Anne & St James, Townsville

All learners entering the Wonder Hub immediately begin to wonder about what they see, what they can do, what they can learn. They are inspired, have their curiosity ignited.

Mr Baills.

Cathedral Opens the Wonder Hub

STAFF AND STUDENTS AT CATHEDRAL’S JUNIOR SCHOOL WERE EXCITED TO OPEN THE SCHOOL’S NEWEST LEARNING SPACE, THE WONDER HUB IN MARCH.

RACHAEL HOOD, DIRECTOR OF TEACHING AND LEARNING (YEAR 3 TO 6), AMANDA BANISTER, DIRECTOR OF TEACHING AND LEARNING (KINDERGARTEN TO YEAR 2), BEN DALLIMORE, TECHNOLOGIES INTEGRATOR AND RANITA WHEBAL, LIBRARIAN, HAVE CREATED A NEW SPACE DEDICATED TO INSPIRING WONDER, APTLY NAMED THE WONDER HUB

As the name suggests the Wonder Hub has been designed as an intriguing space to inspire students to wonder.

The Wonder Hub is home to a very exciting ancient marine reptile fossil which will be on display permanently for students to see. The fossil was discovered

by Rob Ievers on Marathon Station in 2011 while mustering cattle. He was able to identify very quickly that these were the remains of a marine reptile called an Ichthyosaur. Ichthyosaurs lived and swam in the Cretaceous Inland Sea of Queensland around one hundred million years ago.

The Cathedral School’s Head of Junior School, Mr Luke Baills said “The specimen in this display has undergone in excess of 200 hours in preparation time and is museum quality, it is the actual fossil, not a cast or replica. It comes from the Allaru Geological Formation, which Science has aged at around one hundred million years. This incredibly generous contribution from Rob is a focal point of our Wonder Hub and will inspire many learners for generations to come.”

The hub also includes an artefact room, a maker space, a clean construction zone (Lego, meccano, etc.) and a collaboration zone.

“Within the Wonder Hub we have an incredible and rare Geological Collection donated by Glen and Helen Merry, housed in our artefact space. We also have a Maker Space where children can design and build; a construction area; a library area; an area for collaboration amongst learners and a myriad of other special areas and items” added Mr Baills.

Mr Baills said the purpose of the Wonder Hub is to align with the Junior School’s commitment to inquiry-based, student-focused teaching approach.

“It adds layers of thinking. It brings learning and thinking to the forefront, where children are talking about their thinking. It offers students the time and resources to get to deep knowledge about a topic, rather than skimming across the surface of content” continued Mr Baills.

“All learners entering the Wonder Hub immediately begin to wonder about what they see, what they can do, what they can learn. They are inspired, have their curiosity ignited” added Mr Baills.

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The Cathedral School of St Anne & St James, Townsville

Past Students’ Association President’s Report

THIS YEAR WE ARE CELEBRATING 60 YEARS SINCE WE MOVED TO THE CURRENT SITE HERE AT MUNDINGBURRA. IT’S A GREAT OCCASION MOVING TO A NEW SCHOOL AND LOOK HOW THE SCHOOL HAS GROWN TODAY. WE WILL BE CELEBRATING THIS MILESTONE OVER THE REUNION WEEKEND. I would like to congratulate this year’s PSA Scholarship recipient Chelsea Lillecrapp, who was awarded our scholarship at the start of this year. She will become part of our committee to see how the PSA works and bring a student’s perspective to our committee.

The house spirt was alive again this year at the school’s swimming carnivals and it was great to hear the cheering and the banter between the houses. The PSA House Spirit Trophy was awarded to Chatham House in the Junior School, More in the Middle School and Chatham in the Senior School.

I am a big advocate for bringing past students back to the school and it was great to welcome about 40 students from the Class of 2017 to their ‘Back to School BBQ’ in February. This was a record number to attend this event since it began about 10 years ago. It was great to see them spend time walking through the school and meeting up with their teachers, classmates and school friends. This has become a signature event on the PSA calendar.

This year’s reunion weekend on 20-22 July is starting to take shape and bookings are open on our TryBooking site here: https://www.trybooking.com/UFSB. We are going to partner with the Parents’ and Friends’ Association for the first time and have a joint event on the Friday night where we will invite the whole school community, past and present, to celebrate the school’s birthday by the lagoon with drinks and canapes. It is such a lovely time of year, and a beautiful location, and we want to make the most of it. We will hold the 5-year reunion before this event starts, which worked very well last year.

In recent years we have focused on specific year groups attending the reunions as this gives past students an opportunity to meet up with those who attended school at the same time. However, I also want to encourage anyone who is a past student to attend the reunion events - it doesn’t need to be a specific milestone year. It’s a great weekend of fun and fellowship and I welcome any past student who would like to attend. I have attended many reunions and really enjoy meeting new past students and their families and sharing their memories of their old school.

I have included this information from our PSA page of the school website that sums up what the PSA is all about and you can find our page by following this link www.cathedral.qld.edu.au/our-community/past-studentsassociation

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PSA PRESIDENT TOM PORTER WITH 2018 SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT, CHELSEA LILLECRAPP

Students who have attended The Cathedral School for more than one year are automatically granted life-time membership of the Past Students’ Association. The role of the Past Students’ Association is: • to preserve a spirit of good friendship between past students of the School • to foster and develop links with present students • to promote the history and values of the School • to foster and promote the welfare and interests of the School.

The Past Students’ Association is not a fundraising body.

Its main purpose is to keep past students connected to the School, and it aims to do that through regular communication and facilitation of reunions.

All past students are welcome to meetings. Meetings are held in the School Board Room (Heatley House) at 5.00pm on the dates listed below: Monday 30 April Monday 11 June Monday 20 August Monday 22 October I am always looking to find new members to join the committee and if you would like to be a part of the PSA, or volunteer to help with our archives or events, please send me an email to thomas.porter@cathedral.qld.edu.au TOM PORTER PSA President | Class of 2007

The Cathedral School of St Anne & St James, Townsville

CATHEDRAL WELCOMES THE

Queen’s Baton Relay

PRINCIPAL, MR IAN GAMACK, QUEEN’S BATON RELAY YOUNG AMBASSADOR, YEAR 7 STUDENT, MATILDA DAVIES AND BATONBEARER, DANIEL BUCKLAND

On Monday 19 March staff and students welcomed the Commonwealth Games Queen’s Baton Relay into The Cathedral School grounds. This was a once in a life-time opportunity for the school community to be a part of the Baton’s epic global journey. A special celebration was held out the front of Heatley House, by the lagoon where Year 7 student, Matilda Davies represented the school as the Queen’s Baton Relay Young Ambassador. Matilda received the Baton from Peter Searle and passed it on to Kirwan State High School student, Daniel Buckland. It was a momentous occasion for the school community to be involved in.

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The Cathedral School of St Anne & St James, Townsville

Interhouse Swimming Carnivals

PAST STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION HOUSE SPIRIT AWARDS Congratulations to More House in the Middle School and Chatham House in both the Junior and Senior School who were awarded with the Past Students’ Association House Spirit Shields at the recent Interhouse Swimming Carnivals.

Class of 2017 Results

CATHEDRAL’S OP 1 STUDENTS - SIMONE DE NYS, SOPHIE HORLOCK AND JOHN ATKINSON

The Year 12 cohort of 2017 once again continued a proud tradition of academic excellence. On top of our very good OP results, we had 53 vocational education certificates awarded (Certificate I, II and III) and sixteen students receive a Diploma of Business. If you add to this the seventeen students who were in school-based apprenticeships or traineeships, then it is obvious that The Cathedral School provides a multitude of pathways for students post school.

Three of our students, John Atkinson, Simone De Nys and Sophie Horlock achieved the ultimate OP1, but the great results do not stop there. A further five students were awarded an OP2 and six students awarded an OP3, including Riho Nagata, one of our international students who faced the extra burden of studying in another language.

Overall the results for 2017 were impressive with over 50% of students in the OP1 - 8 range and 79% of students in the OP1 - 15 range.

Well done Seniors of 2017!

MR ALLAN CARMAN Director of Studies

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The Cathedral School of St Anne & St James, Townsville

CLASS OF 2017

Welcome Back Lunch On 7 February we welcomed back some of the Class of 2017 for a BBQ Lunch before they head out into the world of life beyond school.

Unfortunately there were a few apologies from fellow classmates as they have already left for university in other locations, are busy working full time or have traveled overseas for a GAP year. We hope to see you all again soon!

School Archives

After the very positive response to our history display during the Centenary celebrations last year, the PSA Committee has made a commitment to establish a better and more permanent archive and display space to preserve and share the history of the school. We are presently working out of cupboards in Heatley House and very limited work space.

We are very grateful for a number of donations of school memorabilia that were made last year, and hope that past students will continue to pass on any old school items that they are ready to part with. We received a couple of ‘gorgeous’ afternoon frocks from the 1960’s and 1970’s (our current students were fascinated at the very idea of an afternoon uniform!) and a lovingly preserved blazer which belonged to Olive Hely (Gannon). Such items will always be gratefully accepted.

As a first step, we have been allocated a generous-sized archives room in St Mary’s, which will be used as a storage and work space as we organise and build the collection. Gradually, we will acquire display cabinets to showcase some of the artefacts, and these will be available for visitors to view at reunions and by special arrangement.

St Mary’s is an appropriate building to house our school archives, as it is one of the earliest building on the Mundingburra site. It was originally Staff House in the 1960’s, but became a boys’ boarding space in the 1980’s. When Akins dormitory was expanded in 2008, St Mary’s was relocated behind the boys’ dormitory, and has since been used for a variety of purposes - staff quarters, boarding overflow, ESL classrooms, temporary office space and it is now used to accommodate boarding parents on short-term visits.

PAST STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION COMMITTEE MEMBERS PREPARING ARCHIVES FOR THE CENTENARY DISPLAY

If any local past students would like to devote some time to working on the school archives, please contact the Registrar, Mrs Toni Lanphier, to volunteer: registrar@ cathedral.qld.edu.au or 4722 2005.

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The Cathedral School of St Anne & St James, Townsville

CLASS OF 1968

50 Year Reunion A GET-TOGETHER HAS BEEN ORGANISED FOR THE SENIOR CLASS OF 1968, AS WELL AS ANY GIRL WHO WOULD HAVE BEEN IN THAT CLASS HAD SHE STAYED UNTIL YEAR 12.

They plan to meet at noon for a two-course lunch and drinks on Friday 7 September at Customs House Brisbane.

If any past students cannot make it, we’d love a current photo, a short bio and a photo of them while at St Anne’s so we can put together a little take-away for each of us.

For more information about the lunch or travel arrangements please contact Gail Stockwell on 0414 893 974 or email rienstra@futureweb.com.au.

The Class of 1968 have had a few catch-up sessions with smaller groups last year and earlier this year, and they are finding more classmates each time. Gail said “It’s been lovely meeting again, and we were surprised at how we could just pick up from all those years ago, as if there hadn’t been so many years in between!”

LESLEY QUARTERMAINE, GAIL STOCKWELL, SUSAN SPURRIER, CATHIE MCKAY, JULIENNE TURLEY, ANNE MCKAY AND KATHY MENKENS AT ONE OF THE GET-TOGETHERS LAST YEAR

CLASS OF 1970

50 Year Reunion in 2020 Were you in the class that did Year 10 in 1968 or Year 12 in 1970? If so, we’d love to see you at a 50 year reunion in July 2020. It may seem a long way off, but it’s a milestone worth celebrating, and we hope that many of you will be keen to catch up after all this time.

At this stage, we are just trying to locate our former classmates and get contact details so we can start putting plans in place. If you are still in touch with friends from that time, please check with them that they are on our mailing list, and send any updated details so our records are accurate, and we can start getting things organised.

If you would like to help, please contact one of us: Roberta Michna (Warnock) - themichnas@gmail.com Cath Luder (Hill) - misscathyj@gmail.com Toni Lanphier (Parsons) - toni.lanphier@bigpond.com CLASS OF 1970 AT THE CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS IN 2017 - CATH LUDER (HILL), PENNY SKERMAN, ROBERTA MICHNA (WARNOCK), TONI LANPHIER (PARSONS) AND JUNE WILLIAMS

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The Cathedral School of St Anne & St James, Townsville

CLASS OF 1988

30 Year Reunion

CLASS OF 1988 YOU ARE INVITED TO OUR 30 YEAR SCHOOL REUNION! WHEN

7.00pm, Saturday 11 August

WHERE

That Place on Sturt, Townsville City

COST

$45 per person (Ticket includes a DJ with a list of your favourite 80’s tunes, a delicious array of canapes, and a range of spirits to help liven up the dance floor) BYO beer, wine and more spirits for extra groovy moves (Mixers must be purchased at the venue)

RSVP

cathedral30reunion@gmail.com or phone Trish Neill (Porter) on 0488 418 171.

Past students making connections in Fiji

While working in Fiji on a two month assignment, my husband Gavin Blakey and I went on a day trip to Tivau Island just off the coast of Nadia. We got talking with a young man, Michael Buckley who was also on the trip. He had just finished a six week tour of USA and had a one day layover in Fiji before returning to Australia. It turned out both Michael and I both went to The Cathedral School, Michael’s senior year was 2010 while my senior year was 1971 - 39 years difference! But it made no difference to developing a new friendship. We actually had a lot in common including both doing degrees at JCU and Michael lived at John Flynn College as did my husband Gavin. We spent an enjoyable day together thanks to our common connection with The Cathedral School. Michael is now a geologist working with Rio Tinto in Mackay and I’m doing international aid assignments in various countries.

DR BEA DUFFIELD DR BEA DUFFIELD, CLASS OF 1971 AND MICHAEL BUCKLEY, CLASS OF 2010

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The Cathedral School of St Anne & St James, Townsville

Congratulations GRACE BALDWIN Congratulations to Class of 2011 graduate and former Past Students’ Association Administration team member, Grace Baldwin who recently graduated from James Cook University with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB).

Grace left Townsville after all the Centenary celebrations in October to move to London to pursue a contract with a charity organisation working in their in-house legal counsel. It was an exciting opportunity as Grace was able to work specifically in her postgraduate field of Domestic and Family Violence. Grace is now working as a legal clerk and is due for her admission in late July and focusing on her studies.

Past Students Claim Victory!

Thank you to all the past students who came along to our annual Touch Football and Netball challenge against the Current Students which was held in October. We are excited to announce that the Past Students won BOTH games in our Centenary year!

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The Cathedral School of St Anne & St James, Townsville

Well, Hello There..

WELCOME TO OUR NEW HEAD OF MIDDLE SCHOOL AND HEAD OF SENIOR SCHOOL At the end of last year we said goodbye to Mr Darren Parks, Head of Middle School and to Mr Ralph Carolan, Head of Senior School. Leaving big shoes to fill we welcomed to Mr Chris Anderson, Head of Middle School and Mr Simon Midson, Head of Senior School. Mr Anderson has joined us from being Principal at Bluewater State School and Mr Midson as Principal of St Andrew’s Grammar in Perth. Welcome to the Cathedral community Mr Anderson and Mr Midson!

MR CHRIS ANDERSON, HEAD OF MIDDLE SCHOOL

Farewell Staff

MR SIMON MIDSON, HEAD OF SENIOR SCHOOL

At the end of 2017 we said farewell to three of our longstanding employees, Mrs Alison Flannery, Mrs Barbara Lansbury and Mrs Heather Orr. We are sure many past students will have many fond memories of these ladies. We wish them all the best with their retirement.

ALISON FLANNERY Thirty-one years in one school is a long time! Alison Flannery joined The Cathedral School team back in 1987.

Back then, boys had not long joined the school community, there were no computers, no Middle School as we now know it today, and many of the current buildings were not even planned. During her time here, predominantly teaching Mathematics, it is estimated around 1,500 different students had the honour of getting to “Just do the Maths” with Mrs Flannery’. Mrs Flannery was someone who always seemed to get a little bit more out of each of her students.

In her time here, she also mentored students from Tuvalu while they were at Cathedral. In her later years, Mrs Flannery was a passionate Senior School More House tutor, but over her time here, was a tutor in each of the houses and across all year levels.

BARBARA LANSBURY Mrs Barbara Lansbury was first employed by Sister Chaseley Anne at St Anne’s in 1976. Her teaching areas at that time were Years 11 and 12 Ancient History, as well as English and History in Years 8 and 10. The following year, Barbara left to start her family. Barbara did contract work at the school and returned part-time.

In 1990, she again resumed full-time duties until the present.

Barbara has held several leadership positions at the school: Dean of Year 8, Dean of Students (Middle School), Acting Registrar, Acting Head of Middle School.

Barbara will always be remembered as an outstanding and compassionate teacher. She has formed close relationships with students, parents and staff and was often the go-to person for advice about grammar and punctuation.

Barbara will certainly be sadly missed, but we know that she is starting a new, exciting chapter of her life as she heads into retirement. We wish both Barbara and her husband, Craig all the very best for their future.

HEATHER ORR Heather started at The Cathedral School 14 years ago. Originally employed as a Junior School Music teacher, Heather has transitioned over the years into the role she held as Head of Instrumental Music. Heather is very experienced with choirs, and her commitment, wisdom and talent has enriched our school productions for many years. The music program has increased in size to be highly regarded in Townsville which is a credit to Heather’s determination to enrich the school community with her love of music.

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In case you missed it on FACEBOOK ….

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Class of 2010 graduate Dr Tristan Symonds who has commenced as an intern doctor at Mater Hospital Townsville

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Class of 2009 graduate Shannon Bill and her brother have started an active wear business - Obsesses Gym Wear

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Class of 2010 graduate Nathan Toll recently performed in Townsville Choral Society’s production of We Will Rock You at the Entertainment Centre

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Class of 2010 graduate Jazmin Malcolm is the Editor of Townsville’s newest magazine BDmag. BDmag is a Business Growth and Development magazine which is focused on positively changing public perception, shining a light on the job generators and increasing growth, tourism and investment in Townsville.

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Class of 2011 graduates Dr Alexandra Kanowski and Dr Timothy Boles have both commenced as intern doctors at the Townsville Hospital.

Class of 1991 graduate Cameron McGrath recently starred in a National Geographic video for his work as a wildlife cameraman.

If you have news to share we’d love to hear from you, please email marketing@cathedral.qld.edu.au

2018

Reunion Weekend Bookings are now open for this year’s Foundation Weekend events - please book online for all of these functions at

https://www.trybooking.com/UFSB

Photo 1, courtesy of the Mater Hospital Townsville. Photos 2 and 5, courtesy of the Townsville Bulletin.

FRIDAY 20 JULY

SATURDAY 21 JULY

5.30pm - 6.30pm - Class of 2013 Five Year Reunion Drinks at the Bird Cage (FREE EVENT)

1.30pm - School Tour and Afternoon Tea (FREE EVENT)

6.30pm - 9.00pm - Foundation Day Cocktail Party (combined function for past and present members of the school community) - Connection Place - tickets $20 per person which includes canapés and one drink on arrival; cash bar available.

6.00pm for a 6.45pm start Reunion Dinner - tickets $45 per person which includes canapés and two course meal; cash bar available Bus drop off to city hotels - $10 per person SUNDAY 22 JULY 9.00am - Church Service at St James’ Cathedral (FREE EVENT)

Telephone: (07) 4722 2000 154 Ross River Road, Mundingburra Queensland 4812 CRICOS Provider Code 00959M www.cathedral.qld.edu.au

Reunions are always more successful if there is a ‘driving force’ getting the year level together, as it is more likely that others will attend if they are invited by someone they know.

If you would like to be a coordinator for your year group’s reunion, please email registrar@cathedral.qld.edu.au so we can help you get a group together.